(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, and more particularly, to technology for forming a high-quality image even after an earthquake.
(2) Related Art
Along with the widespread use of image forming apparatuses in recent years, there are increasing cases of them being hit by an earthquake. Accordingly, a demand for earthquake-safe image forming apparatuses is getting higher every year. In satisfaction of this demand, various technologies for realizing such apparatuses have been proposed.
Among such technologies, one introduces a technology for judging an earthquake intensity with an earthquake detector, and for controlling an image processing apparatus based on the judgment result, so that an image to be output receives no harm from the earthquake. This technology causes a printing sequence to be interrupted when the earthquake intensity hits or exceeds a threshold, and to be restarted when the earthquake ceases and its intensity returns to the threshold or below. As a result, various drawbacks of an image forming process during the earthquake, such as a paper jam and degradation of image quality, can be avoided (see Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application Publication No. 2000-019895).
However, there still remains a problem; following the earthquake, the restarted printing sequence does not always output a high-quality image.